MADE is encouraging Muslims to embrace ethical living this Ramadan and to break their fast with Fair-trade
A UK-based organisation called MADE is asking Muslims to look again at the way that their food is traded and to consider going Fair-trade this Ramadan. As they explain, whilst many Muslims are concerned about whether their food is halal or not very few investigate whether it has been ethically traded. And yet, trade justice is an important principle in Islam and Muslims have a responsibility to ensure that they do not consume products that contribute towards injustice.
“We live in an economically unjust world where producers of our food do not earn the income they are due,” MADE explains. “As consumers we have an Islamic responsibility to ensure that our money is not supporting injustice.” They they go on to quote the Qur’an which reads: “Give full measure and full weight in justice, and wrong not people in respect of their goods” (11:85). The ‘Fair Trade in Islam’ campaign aims to increase awareness about the importance of ethical consumption and fair trade in the Muslim community.
Another branch of the fair-trade campaign is focused on encouraging Muslims to buy fair-trade Palestinian good so that Palestinian producers are able to earn a sustainable living for their families. “Palestinian farmers believe passionately in their right to be able to produce and sell products from their own land despite all the existing difficulties,” MADE explains. “With the support of British Muslim consumers, Palestinian farmers hope to be able to increase production so they can stand on their own feet.”
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The ‘Fair-trade in Islam’ initiative is part of MADE’s Ramadan 2012 ethical living campaign. As well promoting fair-trade, they have been busy curating discussions around bottled water and encouraging people to ‘Drink Tap!’. At recent Islam-related events, they have screened films exposing the environmental impact of bottled water and encouraged people to invest in re-useable bottles instead. As they explain, high consumer demand for bottled water has a high and unecessary impact on our environment. The ‘I Drink Tap!’ campaign is “about encouraging Muslim communities to give up wasteful and environmentally harmful bottled water and drink tap water instead.”
The MADE in Europe campaign in is partnership with Zaytoun & Oxfam. MADE in Europe is also a proud member of the Stop Climate Change Coalition, the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the world’s poorest communities.
::MADE
For more on a green Ramadan see:
“Host Greener Iftars At Mosques” Is Imam Zaid Shakir’s Ramadan Message (VIDEO)
Ramadan Food Waste & Green Tips for Cutting it Down
Vegetarian Ramadan Recipes From the Middle East (PHOTOS)
Author: Arwa Aburawa
Arwa is a Muslim freelance writer who is interested in everything climate change related and how Islam can inspire more people to care for their planet and take active steps to save it while we can. She is endlessly suspicious of all politicians and their ceaseless meetings, especially as they make normal people believe that they are not part of the solution when they are the ONLY solution. Her Indian auntie is her model eco-warrier, and when Arwa is not busy helping out in the neighborhood alleyway garden, swap shopping or attempting fusion vegetarian dishes- with mixed success, she’d like to add- she can be found sipping on foraged nettle tea.
thank you for such an informative article – have made a few links to this from my own blog at motifltd.com – be blessed this Ramadan.
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